Italian lawyer: Atlanta s prohibition on competition is illegal, Lukeman can terminate the contract with legitimate reasons

Italian lawyers believe that Lukeman could terminate his contract with Atlanta for "justified reasons." According to Italian labor lawyer Michelle La Francesa on Twitter, if the summer transfer agreement between Lukeman and Atlanta contains a non-compete clause, the agreement would violate labor law.

As we all know, Lukeman wants to join Inter Milan and has publicly accused the current club of breaking promises. Lukeman had requested to leave Atlanta last summer when Paris Saint-Germain made an offer. Atlanta chose to keep him, however, but the two sides reached an agreement to allow him to leave this summer. Now, Lukeman wants to join Inter Milan, but Atlanta has rejected two offers from the Nerazzurri.

Atlanta CEO Luca Percassi made it clear that the club does not want to sell Lukeman to a Serie A team, as part of the deal last summer. However, Italian labor lawyers have different views on this.

Michel La Francesa explained: "The agreement between the club and the player regarding the transfer is indisputable, and both parties acknowledge it. Atlanta claims that the agreement applies only to foreign transfers. However, if this is true, the agreement will be invalid because it constitutes a non-compete clause, which is prohibited under Article 26, paragraph 6 of the Legislative Order No. 36/21."

La Francesa further explained: "The act stipulates that no competition shall be included in the contract. The prohibition clause or any clause that restricts the athlete's professional freedom after the termination of the contract and such clauses are not allowed to be included during the contract period. Given this, it seems unlikely that the parties are unaware of the rule and have reached a substantially invalid agreement. Therefore, the player's statement (i.e., the parties reached an agreement on fixed transfer fees) is more credible. "

From this perspective, invoking Article 14 of the FIFA Ordinance (which would allow Lukeman to terminate the contract on 'just reason', given the unfair behavior of the club) is a viable option.